Wednesday, January 02, 2013

New York Republican Rep. Peter King went to war with his Republican colleagues on Wednesday after leaders spiked a Hurricane Sandy relief bill....

He's is not the only Republican upset about the issue: New Jersey Gov. Christie "is not a happy guy right now," King said....

"All we're saying is treat us the same everybody else has been treated," King said. "And why the Republican party has this bias against New York, bias against New Jersey, bias against the northeast? They wonder why they're becoming a minority party? ..."

... In order to take control of the House, Democrats would have needed to win the 2012 election by 7.25 percentage points.... That's how powerful the GOP's gerrymandered maps are; Democrats can win a Congressional election by nearly 8 points and still barely capture the House.

The GOP isn't a national party anymore, and it isn't even a potential majority party -- and the GOP doesn't care. It derives maximum value from its areas of regional power, and that's good enough. If the Northeast isn't fertile ground for the GOP's brand of provincialism and mean-spiritedness, well, screw the Northeast. Much easier to squeeze every last seat out of the South and the mountain West and the Appalachians and the Rust Belt.

Peter King and Chris Christie have mostly been loyal GOP apparatchiks throughout their careers -- but the party doesn't really need them, given where they live, and especially given the fact that they occasionally deviate from right-wing Correct Thinking. The party also knows that they don't have the cojones to quit. So congratulations, guys -- you've been used. Too bad for you.

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UPDATE: Apparently John Boehner has placated King by offering a vote Friday on $9 billion in aid and another vote in two weeks on $51 billion. (Wonder what budget cuts Republicans in the House are going to demand in return for a favorable vote on the latter....)

And I hate to disagree with you, Victor, but I think you have missed Steve's point: It's the gerrymandered safety of the House GOP seats he's talking about, and the power it gives that party to say "Screw you!" to everyone else, no matter how much of the country rejects its demands.

Having a Christie (R) as governor in the Northeast is fine with the GOP but not essential, as long as he toes the party line, but the big guy is disposable if he flouts orthodoxy.

If the American people cannot get serious about denouncing clearly illegal activities by our elected officials and if the Judges don't take lawful actions against elected officials, there will be no Law and certainly no "spirit of the law". For example, the gerrymandering in Wisconsin was clearly illegal, sunshine laws were broken, loyalty oaths of silence were required, partisan private businesses were employed with taxpayers funds, etc.

We need national voting laws; corrupt states affects every citizen in state. Redistricting should be done by parties with clear conflicts of interest.

But in the next few years, the Republicans in state governments around the country, will be hard at work to make those gerrymandered districts be what counts in Presidential elections, instead of giving all of the state's Electoral College votes to the person who got the majority of votes there.

Since the Republicans refuse to address their parties racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and/or homophobie, THAT, may be the only way they can win the Presidency in the forceseeable future.